I’ve got quite a few different topics to cover in this morning’s blog, so let’s jump right into it…

I received a lot of great feedback on yesterday’s blog – thanks! I realize that many people who come to this site are almost entirely focused on making external changes (drop fat, add muscle); believe me, I get that – I really do. I understand from firsthand experience how awesome it is to work hard and then see the results when you look in the mirror. When you’re eating right, lifting weights and treating your body with the respect it deserves there are a number of not-so-obvious changes, too. The stuff I talked about in yesterday’s blog allows you to easily take stock of many of the internal changes that a healthy lifestyle brings about. Even though no one is going to walk up to you on the beach and say, “Wow, check you out – I’ll bet you’ve got an incredibly good Resting Heart Rate!”, that doesn’t mean that tracking your general health improvements are not every bit as motivating as the physical changes. If you care at all about your health (and since you’re reading this you probably do) I encourage you to give yesterday’s blog a read and then start tracking the measurements I discussed. It’s easy to do, and I think you’ll find the improvements you make motivating and exciting. I’ve posted my own test results (and will continue to do so each Sunday), and I’d love to see others post their test results in the comments section below the blog!

By the way, I updated yesterday’s blog in the afternoon after my leg workout. I was able to test my Heart Rate Recovery after 4 sets of 20 Bulgarian Split Squats, and so I added that information.

My leg workout yesterday was outstanding. My back was still hurting a bit, but it did not affect my training. I substituted Bulgarian split squats for the traditional barbell back squats that I normally do, but apart from that my workout was the same. I love to hate Bulgarian split squats: they are seriously challenging, but provide a fantastic strength training and cardio workout.

If you purchased (or are planning to purchase) a Timex Ironman heart rate monitor like the one I have, I found a very helpful video that pretty much eliminates the need to crack open the manual. Using this video I had the heart rate monitor fully configured and up and running in less than 10 minutes. Check it out here.

My back is feeling much better this morning. I am still going to see my doctor about it, and the appointment is this afternoon. Actually I’m not going to see my doctor, I’m going to see Lisa’s doctor. I like my doctor a lot, but I feel he’s very “by the book”. What I mean by that is he seems a little too comfortable bowing to the insurance company’s desires, even if I get the feeling he feels something else might be in my best interest. Lisa’s doctor seems to be much more patient-oriented, so I’m going to give him a try. Lisa just loves this guy, and has been telling me to see him for ages. I’ll let you all know what he has to say in tomorrow morning’s blog. Should be interesting.

There are a couple of new items on the Current Promotions page: AtLarge Nutrition is having a fantastic sale on RESULTS (10 bucks off per tub!) and I’ve opened registration for the March 2011 “100 Challenge”.

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